1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminated spirit level for use in connection with determining the attitude of an aircraft. The illuminated spirit level has particular utility in connection with determining aircraft attitude in the event that there is a primary failure of the aircraft""s electrically powered flight instruments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spirit levels are desirable to determine whether or not something is horizontally disposed. The most common form of level is that which is straight, relatively narrow, and elongated. The present invention describes a level that is in the shape of an airplane.
The use of a level is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,752,692 to Smith discloses a level with a pair of movable arms attached the Smith ""692 patent is not battery operated, nor does it have glow-in-the-dark liquid inside the capsules in case of a power outage. This patent has the further drawbacks of being unable to be used to determine airplane attitude and being unable to be fastened to the dashboard of the airplane.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,529 to Chamberlain discloses a leveling indicator that illustrates whether or not an object is horizontally disposed. However, the Chamberlain ""529 patent is not able to measure airplane attitude, and additionally cannot be used in the dark since it is not battery operated nor does it have glow-in-the-dark liquid in the capsules.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,978 to Crowe discloses a spirit level that has a dual battery configuration that illuminates the bubble tubes. However, the Crowe ""978 patent does not contain glow-in-the-dark liquid in case the battery fails, and can not measure attitude.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,232 to Whiteford discloses an illuminated level in which each bubble vial is illuminated by an individual light emitting diode (LED) energized from a battery supported within the body of the level. However, the Whiteford ""232 patent cannot measure attitude and does not contain glow-in-the-dark fluid within the bubble vials in case the battery fails.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,075 to MacDernott discloses a spirit level that is illuminated at both ends. However, the MacDermott ""075 patent does not measure attitude, and has the additional deficiency of being unable to be fastened to the dashboard of an airplane.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a spirit level that can be attached to an airplane dashboard and be used to measure airplane attitude. The present invention can be battery operated for illumination and thus is capable of being used even when the electrical instruments in the plane malfunction. Additionally, the bubble vials of the present invention contain a fluid that glows in the dark so that they can be seen if the battery fails. None of the above inventions illustrates all of the above features in one invention.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved illuminated spirit level that can be used for determining airplane attitude. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the spirit level according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of determining airplane attitude when the electrical system in the plane malfunctions.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of leveling gauges now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved illuminated spirit level, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved illuminated spirit level which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in an illuminated spirit level which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises three bubble vial levels mounted onto a cross-shaped casing that is intended to represent an aircraft fuselage and its wings. One bubble vial would be placed in each left and right xe2x80x9cwingxe2x80x9d and a third bubble vial would be placed at the top forward portion of the cross representing the aircraft cockpit. Each bubble vial could be filled with a luminescent fluid to glow in the dark and be visible in the event of a primary electrical system failure. Additionally, a single push-button would illuminate the bubble vial levels via a battery power source, thus allowing the pilot to determine if the aircraft was banked left or right or was going in straight flight. This device would be adhered to the flight instrument cluster directly in front of the pilot and positioned in a horizontal manner for use as a back-up attitude reference at any time.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also be strategically placed in the dash of the plane in view of the pilot as opposed to being adhered to the flight instrument cluster. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved illuminated spirit level that has all of the advantages of the prior art spirit levels and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved illuminated spirit level that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved illuminated spirit level that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such illuminated spirit level economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new illuminated spirit level that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated spirit level for determining aircraft attitude. This invention can be fastened to the dash of a plane in plain view of the pilot and can be used in the event that the electrical flight controls fail. The present invention uses a particular configuration of basic bubble vials in order to determine the orientation of the aircraft in the xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cZxe2x80x9d axes. This invention employs self-contained illumination features via luminescent fluids or battery-operated lighting devices. These devices allow this basic flight instrument to be read in the dark without the need for additional lights.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.